Hi everyone: I'm hoping for some help to figure out a new training plan.

I want to start climbing hard again this fall but when I do climb I'm sore for like 3-4 days after and so I'm having trouble being consistent.

Any ideas on a good training schedule for busy people? Also, how I can recover faster so I can get more climbing in?

In case it helps: I've been climbing for about 5-6 years. A few years ago at my best I was able to lead hard 10s and pushing into 11. But in the last few years I gotten real busy and I haven't doing much training. So, as you might imagine, I have slowly gotten worse. At this point I can only lead 10a on a good day. I keep having to do the same climbs over and over again. I need help!

If you can only get to the gym once or twice a week i would suggest a fingerboard. Its not as good as climbing, but still better than nothing. And it's fairly time efficient. 2x30 mins and climbing on the weekends should be enough to see some progress.

The soreness will improve once you get used to training again. A little bit is okay, but dont train if its really painful.

hi, i never put much into supplements and all but protein was the cure for me in terms of recovering. yoga always is recommended in terms of loosening up your muscles and just learning about your body and aligment

Obviously age will play a factor in recovery but recently a lot have come out about using a 4:1 carb to protein during and right after exercise to help recovery. Pacific Labs, makers of Accelerade, have all their studies on their website regarding this. Must have been compelling since Gatorade has recently ripped it off with G2. Either way I've been using Accelerade during climbing at 32oz of water per scoop (rec is 12oz so I highly dillute but I'll drink 64 in 2 hours).

I stretch during any down time. At the end of my workout I'll climb to failure, stretch and wait 10 and do it again and ice when I get home for 10-15 minutes, most times I'm not sore the next morning and never the day after that. Think it comes down to lots of water, lots of stretching, and calories during and right after working out.

Think it comes down to lots of water, lots of stretching, and calories during and right after working out.

Why only during and after? Why not start on the sports drink lightly slightly before exercise? Remember there is a delay between drinking it and having the glucose enter your system while liquid empties from your stomach.

Think it comes down to lots of water, lots of stretching, and calories during and right after working out.

Why only during and after? Why not start on the sports drink lightly slightly before exercise? Remember there is a delay between drinking it and having the glucose enter your system while liquid empties from your stomach.

Sorry, thought that would be implied since I hope you eat and hydrate properly throughout the day anyways.

The delay shouldn't really cause much problems since most people with have in the area of 1500 calories already in their body in usable state if you're not active at all times. If you have a physically demanding job as well you'll have a bit lower than that at workout time. Various calculators and strategies will have to be employed if you're active all the time.

Example when I go hiking and plan on a 14 hour day what works for me is I try to consume around 600 calories every 2 hours. With some quick and dirty math if I start in the morning with 1500 queued up in my system, and burn 600 per hour, and consume 600 every 2 hours, that leaves me running a 300 deficit every hour but my body should be able to convert enough fat to pick up another 200 calories per hour or so. In short at hour 14 I *should* still have in the ball park of 500 calories in the tank still available and avoid hitting the wall.

I want to start climbing hard again this fall but when I do climb I'm sore for like 3-4 days after and so I'm having trouble being consistent.

Any ideas on a good training schedule for busy people? Also, how I can recover faster so I can get more climbing in?

You need to get your body used to climbing. Being sore for a day or two is pretty normal, but I only ever get sore for 3 or 4 days when I'm trying a brand new exercise that my body isn't used to.

I would suggest you start trying to climb at least two days in a row and let your body acclimatize. Just because your muscles are sore doesn't mean you can't use them. You probably can't climb hard two days in a row, so for the moment look at the second day as an active rest day and just do light climbing until you feel like you can start pushing harder.

The delay shouldn't really cause much problems since most people with have in the area of 1500 calories already in their body in usable state

I don't know much about this. Are we talking muscle+liver glycogen or are we talking blood sugar (or both) here?

Obviously not the most trusted source but from the wiki page on "hitting the wall" it sounds like it's the glycogen. I'm by no means an expert, just stating what works for me and the limited knowledge I have. Makes sense to me though. We're always eating, and obviously don't drop dead if we don't eat for 12 hours or even days so we always have some amount of energy available to our body for use.

But either way, for the OP to stave off soreness and speed recovery; proper hydration all day every day, stretch, carb/protein calorie intake before/during/after, stretch, plenty of sleep, stretch, did I mention stretch?

The delay shouldn't really cause much problems since most people with have in the area of 1500 calories already in their body in usable state

I don't know much about this. Are we talking muscle+liver glycogen or are we talking blood sugar (or both) here?

Obviously not the most trusted source but from the wiki page on "hitting the wall" it sounds like it's the glycogen. I'm by no means an expert, just stating what works for me and the limited knowledge I have. Makes sense to me though. We're always eating, and obviously don't drop dead if we don't eat for 12 hours or even days so we always have some amount of energy available to our body for use.

But either way, for the OP to stave off soreness and speed recovery; proper hydration all day every day, stretch, carb/protein calorie intake before/during/after, stretch, plenty of sleep, stretch, did I mention stretch?

Well you don't die in 12 hours of not eating while moving as you tap into your longer term energy supplies (fat sotres etc). I don't have a nnumber but I really want to see one on how much energy is stored as glycogen in the liver at any one time. That (and blood sugar) are really the only forms of stored energy that I would consider "readily avaliable". I feel like the number would be under 1500 calories, but I'll have to go find it.

I won't count all the glycogen in your body, as the glycogen in your pecs isn't going to help when your forearms start to run low.

Stretching is good, just make sure that any pre-workout stretching is dynamic, not static.

I'd say start by consistantly climbing once a week, then increase to 2X a week, and if you can find the time, 3X a wk. I'd say stay off the crimper holds, you'll risk injuring a tendon and will wear yourself out before you've given your forearms a good burn.

Do some cardio work during the week. Running, hiking, etc. If you work in a multi story office building, take the stairs, it's a free workout that doesn't take any extra time.

It'll take time, but I'd venture to say if you do this consistantly for 6-8 weeks, you'll see a huge improvement.